Saturday, 16 February 2013

Sepia Saturday - 164

I searched several times for photographs in our family collection. Nothing with an tortoise, and I can not see one that I had of my father in law, where I was sure he was smoking a pipe, anyway here is one I did find - I am sure a cigarette counts!

This is of my Grandfather, George Butcher and taken circa 1960. He is in the garden of the family home which was near the railway station at Guildford. Behind the small fence is the River Wey and the tall tower like structure is in the grounds of the former laundry at Guildford. I am sure that large bushy flower behind him is either marigolds or wallflowers as they seemed to be favours. In this photo he is wearing a waist coat that matched the suit, which is rare, he usually wore a brown jumper with an orange fleck in the wool. So I wonder if this was him getting ready to go to an event.

I recall the laundry which was a derelict building during my childhood. It had been used during the war as dealing with sheets and alike from the military. During the war my Grandmother worked there and after then hated ironing with a passion and the smell of starch. Gradually the laundry knocked down and Guildford Crown Court built on the site.

Thanks for the interesting back ground, and your grandfather is such a handsome man. It's funny my family has photos of relatives back in the 50's and 60's when they thought taking photos with cigarettes was really cool! They all had them! Well, mostly the men anyway!

Smells are such an important part of our heritage aren't they? And sounds too. I remember the smell of sweet coffee in my parent's thermos being opened in the car by the side of the road during breaks on our long trips to Sydney from Canberra. Funny - I never have sugar in my coffee. It's almost too much of a treat to have. And probably just as well given my weakness for just about everything else.

He looked very handsome there. But I mostly sympathize with your grandma's dislike of ironing. My mom grew a dislike for it too, because I liked it too much and took too much space every morning to iron my clothes. Many suspected I even ironed my underwear, which i didn't. I am way more relax about it now and haven't held an iron for many years now. Pity my mom never got to see that day... But back to that photograph, that laundry, so close to houses, it must have had a peculiar smell about it. I remember a friend in high school who lived across a chocolate factory and while the first time I smelled that, I found the smell appealing, it didn't take long for me to find it nauseating. Again, I feel from your grandma... :)~ HUGZ

It probably was a special occasion - hence the photo. It's odd that the photographer didn't think to prompt him to take the cigarette out of his mouth. I've got several family photos where people are smoking, but usually the cigarette is between their fingers.

I thought that, but the photographer was probably my Grandmother and she was never great with camera's! In fact she hated having her photo taken, so I am always surprised at just how many I have of her.

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About Me

I am a Surrey girl, who is very proud of her roots, which go back almost 300 years in Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire. I currently live in the West Country of England, but Surrey is always home! I am also half Italian and thus have an interest in Italian culture and genealogy.

After a career in pharmacy management spanning more than 20 years, I made the decision to look at my options as to where my professional life was heading. I wanted to expand my work portfolio within the training and writing arena; to utilise my historical and research skills along with other qualifications and years of experience. I created The Book of Me, Written by You back in the Autumn of 2012. It threads together the focus of my interests and qualifications. Enabling me to encourage others to think beyond the obvious as we analyse our own lives and those of our close family members.

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